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shapes the identities of black people," he said.

Until recently, white Americans have not had to think much about what it means to be white.

Successive waves of immigrants came to the United States from Ireland, Italy and other European countries, often sharply divided by language, culture and religion. But over time, the differences among white ethnic Americans blurred.

Now, as the population becomes increasingly made up of ethnic minorities, white people like Ball are beginning to feel their whiteness and to seek their own cultural identity.

The search includes a hard look at how white people are affected by racism and where they fit in a multiethnic society. The quest for a white identity has generated an academic discipline and more than a dozen books on whiteness in the last year alone.

Because it is so hard to draw generalizations, defining whiteness is tricky. White culture is the invisible American norm -- the standard of the majority against which all others are measured, scholars say.

As a result, whiteness studies classes and seminars tend to ponder more questions than answers about what it means to be white in the United States. They have broad titles like "Whiteness in the U.S. Imagination" and

"Establishing the Fact of Whiteness," and " 'Wonder Breading' in America: On the Hidden Injuries of Whiteness."

"I find a lot of my white students are vexed by that question," said Matt Wray, a doctoral student at the University of California at Berkeley, who studies white identity. "As whites, we don't think of race as something that belongs to us. But we have special privileges that come to us by virtue of having white skin."

Psychologist Judith Katz takes the definition of whiteness a step further, listing characteristics she says are generally associated with white people, including rugged individualism, emotional control, a penchant for strict time schedules, belief in Christianity and a culture that romanticizes war.

Whiteness studies has its critics on the left and right. Some warn that developing a white identity could lead to racial divisiveness. Others say it could resurrect notions of biological race differences.

"I don't think they understand how strong the resurgence of white nationalism is," said Berlet, senior analyst at Political Research Associates and author of "Eyes Right," an anthology on right-wing ideology. "Be clear that white identity throughout history has been based on supremacy and the oppression of black people -- and also be aware that there are many people willing to hijack the discussion and move it toward the idea that democracy only works in separate nations."

Other critics insist the very idea of whiteness should be abolished altogether in the name of ending white racial dominance.

Advocates of the study of whiteness disagree. Many argue that an understanding of what it means to be white in the United States is a necessary step to honest dialogue about race -- and to fighting racism.

"You have to be an ostrich not to see that white people are culturally and economically dominant in this society," Ball said. "You have to be willfully ignorant not to see that this is a direct result of the legacy of slavery."

For white people, Ball said, "this creates a neurotic oscillation between a sense of entitlement and a sense of unearned privilege."

It is difficult to develop a positive sense of whiteness "when there is not a lot to be proud of," said Pamela Perry, a doctoral student in sociology at UC Berkeley.

Perry observed teenagers develop their white identities during a year at two East Bay high schools -- one multiracial and urban and the other mostly white suburban. She declined to name the schools.

The white students at the multiracial school developed a much stronger group identity, Perry found, underscoring the assumption that people who find themselves in a minority are more apt to seek a group identity.

White students at the multiracial school preferred punk and rock 'n' roll over rap, explaining candidly that "It speaks more to my experience as a white person."

Such sports as skateboarding were also considered "white."

Even when white students adopted the typical costume of baggy pants like everyone else, Perry found, they modified the style to their group identity.

For example, the pants might be cut off at the hem in imitation of skateboarders.

The white teenagers who did listen to rap music were those who identified with the black students, Perry found.

At the suburban school, where white students were in the majority, they appeared to have less of a need to develop a group identity, Perry said.

White students were more likely to listen to rap music, but they associated it with being hip, tough and urban, not specifically black.

The search for a white identity has been explored in pop culture as well as academic discourse. It may even help explain the popular fascination with the "white trash" personality celebrated on "Roseanne" and the Jerry Springer Show, sociologists say.

"I don't think you can point to many periods in history where white trash has been held up as a defiant countercultural hero," said Wray, co-editor of a book called "White Trash."

On the Internet, "White Trash Online" features Cheetos, race cars and Elvis.

Beyond the stereotypes and Spam, much of whiteness studies is a about recognizing the privilege that many whites unconsciously take for granted.

It is a delicate subject.

Lauren Kucera grew up in white suburban Burlingame, but she felt pretty knowledgeable about race. Her mother was active in the civil rights movement, and every summer, Kucera went off to a multicultural center.

"I figured, 'Aren't I exposed? Aren't I cured?' " said Kucera, now a cross-cultural communications educator.

Four years ago, she started attending workshops about race and racism. Among the white participants, she said, she found "a great deal of taboo and insecurity."

"One of the ultimate fears is to be called a racist," said Kucera. "But how can you help but be racist in a society that is racist?"

Edward Ball also grew up in a segregated neighborhood, seeing black people as the distant and mysterious "other."

"All white folks have a certain amount of fear that we i internalize from childhood -- fear of other racial groups," he said.

Ball conceded that he was afraid the African American slave descendants -- some of whom were his own blood relatives -- would hate him.

"One of the reasons I embarked on this effort was to release that fear," he said. "I succeeded."

Across the country, students, in particular, are beginning to ask what it means to be white.

"They want to know who they are and who they can be, without the national chauvinism, the racial arrogance and supremacy," said Benjamin Bowser, sociology professor at California State University at Hayward and co-editor of the book "Impacts of Racism on White Americans."

ONE MAN'S SEARCH FOR A PLANTATION PAST

Edward Ball waded through 10,000 pages of family papers spanning 400 years in his search to find the stories of the thousands of slaves his ancestors owned.

He exchanged tears, hard words and horrific memories with some of the nearly 100,000 African Americans in the United States today who are descendants of Ball family slaves.

"My life had been shaped by the legacy of those plantations," Ball said. "I took benefit from them."

It was not a financial, but cultural benefit, he said, like "being first in line for jobs, housing and education. Most white people, I think, sense something about that."

Ball sought to make amends, although many of the descendants of his family's slaves viewed his apologies as irrelevant. One man credited him with being "man enough" to try.

Some of the families were not aware of their ancestry. Others were angry. Many accepted him into their homes.

"The first impression they had of me was one of shock," Ball said.

"First, that I existed, and second, that I was there."

Many said they never thought they could put a face on a slave master -- until they met Ball.

"This was an intensely perverse gift," Ball said. "Because it enabled them, and also me, to make contact with those families long dead who had suffered incomprehensibly, and bring them to life, pay them respect, confer dignity on their lives."

After they got to know each other, Ball said many of the families became intensely interested in finding out what had happened to their relatives. From 1698 to 1863, the Balls of South Carolina were one of the largest slave-holding families in the South.

The Ball family myth enshrined the slave-owning clan as benevolent masters. But Ball found records of sexual violence, hangings and mutilation.

"I'm talking about sitting down with black people at a kitchen table to talk about what our ancestors did to and with each other," Ball said.

"I'm not suggesting that everyone is able to do it, but I found that talking about the tragic events that families share . . . it gives relief."

This is one of a series of articles in "About Race," a yearlong public journalism project in which The Chronicle, KRON-TV, BayTV and KQED-FM are examining various aspects of race relations in the Bay Area.

ABOUT RACE

This is one of a series of articles in "About Race," a yearlong public journalism project in which The Gate, The Chronicle, KRON-TV, BayTV and KQED-FM are examining various aspects of race relations in the Bay Area.